04 Oct Surprise Medical Billing
Surprise, surprise, surprise….you just received an unexpected medical bill!
当我第一次听到“意外医疗账单”这个词时，我不知道这是什么. The term is actually pretty straight forward; a bill you were not expecting. It is also called “balance billing”. 这个话题最近变得更加公开，因为国会, the federal government, 医疗保健倡导者开始解决不断增加的医疗保健费用问题, including surprise medical bills. The impact of surprise medical billing, 当患者从保险公司网络中被视为“网络外”的医生或医院接受治疗，随后收到的账单远高于“网络内”提供者时，会发生什么情况. This commonly happens at hospital emergency rooms.
While this issue is receiving attention, surprise medical billing appears to be increasing, according to JAMA Internal Medicine. The focus by lawmakers and at least one state, California, 难道没有任何一致的、没有批评的计划吗. California implemented a law (AB 42)，保护在网络医院接受治疗的患者, but from an out of network provider. 正规澳门赌场app这项法律的效力，尚无定论. Some research 已经证明它有助于保护病人免受意外账单的困扰, however, 其他研究表明，它会影响供应商协商费率的能力.
最近的一些报告显示，投资者正在影响(而且不是以积极的方式)惊喜计费. Kaiser reports 许多私人医生团体实际上是由医生拥有的, 但也受到私募股权和风险投资公司精明投资者的青睐. 这种商业模式在本质上似乎是出其不意的计费，从而带来更高的利润. 对于意外医疗账单，医生们没有统一的平台. 许多医生发现，他们别无选择，只能与人事服务机构签订合同 contracts their services out to hospitals. 然后，医院从提供的医疗服务中获得利润分成，显然最赚钱的是网络外的医疗服务.
A recent expose 哥伦比亚广播正规澳门赌场app强调了一个案例，一名男子因最近的核磁共振检查显示他的脊柱有一个非常严重的凸起而被送往急诊室. 核磁共振检查后，他被告知要立即去急诊室，否则他可能会瘫痪. 急诊室的医生表示他需要紧急背部手术，他也做了手术. Shortly after he was presented with a $650,000 bill for that surgery; his insurance company indicating the surgery was not medically necessary. 这是一个很明显的例子，说明一般人可能会出现在急诊室，愿意听从医生的建议, 没有对保险公司进行任何尽职调查, second opinion, etc. But is this not human nature? 想象一下，你带着年幼的孩子去急诊室，你被告知孩子需要急诊. 我猜，除了孩子的健康和幸福，你可能不会考虑别的.
现在你对意外医疗账单有了更深入的了解, what can you do about it and how can we help? A service we offer is called Quizzify, which focuses on improving health literacy. We know that health literate people have much lower health care costs and are healthier than those who are not health literate. 在Quizzify的创建者Al Lewis最近的一篇文章中，他强调了 six 员工应该知道的正规澳门赌场app意外医疗账单的事情. Quizzify是一种有趣的互动方式，让员工变得健康. 如果您有兴趣了解更多，请与我们联系 Kansas Business Group on Health.